Sorting through the coat closet

\ 1 Comment

I started applying what I’ve learned in The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. It’s already made a huge difference. I feel lighter, having gotten rid of unneeded and unwanted excess.

This is our coat closet at the top of the stairs.

before

after
I did a couple of things. First, I moved two pairs of shoes downstairs to our bedroom closet, hiking shoes that we only use a couple times per year. Second, I sorted through my jackets and coats, taking out four that I never wear. I kept four (which still seems excessive) because we do live in Washington and have colder temperatures 2/3 of the year. Because there is now extra room in the closet, I added Cin-Ru’s coat on the far left. Now I can enjoy seeing her coat and look forward to her wearing it.

My library bag is down on the floor. I add books to it throughout the week as I finish them and just grab the bag on my way out the door to the library.

I love the difference just half an hour made!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged:

Weekly goals

\ 2 Comments

I find that I get more done when I write down goals for the upcoming week. So here is what I am aiming to accomplish.

1 – At least four solid hours of Chinese studying. My February total was rather low (12 hours) and I plan to make more progress in March.

2 – Send out birthday cards for the sponsorship kiddos who have birthdays in March.

3 – Start applying what I’ve learned in The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I plan to post separately about my thoughts regarding the book. In short – I loved it! I wanted to tackle something small today because I didn’t have enough time to go through my entire wardrobe. So I sorted through a stack of paperwork, tossed out at least 75% of it, and filed the rest. I’m so tickled to have the motivation to seriously make a difference in our home.

before

after
So much better!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged:

Dossier arrival

\ Leave a Comment

Our dossier has officially made it to Taiwan. I am so excited and hope that we hear soon that the mayor has signed off on our paperwork. Then we go to court!

This adoption process is moving quicker than our last adoption attempt. I try to remind myself of that when I get frustrated that we’ve now been working on adoption for almost two years and still don’t have a child. The process takes so long. A parent reminded me that it’s important to take time for ourselves now and not get so caught up in the adoption that we forget to live. It’s good advise but so hard to implement.

We’re going to church tomorrow and I have a few sponsorship letters to write. And hopefully I’ll make some good knitting progress this weekend! I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Posted in: Adoption, Uncategorized \ Tagged:

With all my love

\ 3 Comments

Cin-Ru’s hat is finished and ready to go.

I love this pattern and am seriously considering knitting myself one in purple. That way we have matching hats! We are going to send it in her birthday care package in April. Yes, I know April in Taiwan is not winter hat weather. But I still hope she’ll appreciate the gesture that her future mom knit her something special.

Next up – socks!

Posted in: Adoption, Uncategorized \ Tagged: ,

DTT!

\ 4 Comments

DTT – Dossier to Taiwan!!

All adoption programs have a multitude of acronyms. China has this special one called DTC, or Dossier to China. I am thieving their acronym to say that we are officially DTT! Our dossier is currently en route to Taiwan. It will arrive just as the adoption agency reopens after Chinese New Year.

We are still waiting on a few things. The mayor to sign off on our girl’s adoption paperwork. The Taiwan agency to finish writing their analysis of us, our girl, our interactions on Skype, etc. Then we’re off to court! I can’t wait!

I’m almost done with Cin-Ru’s hat. I worked on it while with my knitting group this morning but had to stop because I needed to switch needles and left the DPNs at home. Whoops. All I have left are a few decrease rows and this hat will be complete.

I really like how the hat is turning out. I’m going to knit myself one in purple so that we have matching hats. Like mother, like daughter. Mother. Daughter. Those two words make me want to cry with joy.

Posted in: Adoption, Uncategorized \ Tagged: ,

Second Skype call

\ 3 Comments

I am officially in love and am ready to travel to Taiwan now! Can we please bring home our daughter soon? She has such a beautiful smile that lights up her whole face. I’m ready to love on her and make her part of our family.

Our Skype call last night was short but sweet. She’s slowly feeling more comfortable with us. I’m so glad that we recorded the call so that we can watch it again. We also found out that she participated in a Chinese New Year’s dance performance, that someone recorded that performance, and that they will be sending us a copy of it. I can’t wait to see it!

Posted in: Adoption, Uncategorized \ Tagged:

Unscheduled road trip!

\ 4 Comments

It looks like we will be driving down to the Secretary of State’s office tomorrow. The Arizona SOS rejected my husband’s employment verification letter twice because the notary signed it incorrectly twice! Instead, we’re redoing the paperwork so that we can have it notarized in Washington and same day authentication processed at the Secretary of State’s office. Road trip!

Our paperwork was held up due to this issue, but it also wasn’t really held up. Taiwan has this tiny, itty-bitty holiday called Chinese New Year. It’s such a small holiday that the entire country shuts down for awhile. Ha! So our paperwork would just be sitting in Taiwan as opposed to sitting in the US. I’d rather the paperwork sit in Taiwan, but we’re doing our best to make sure that will happen soon.

In other news, I need to make significant progress on Cin-Ru’s hat. I was going to work on it this morning at the library but then there was a flurry of emails with the agency and I could no longer sit still. Once my lovely hubby finishes his conference call, we’re off to the bank to get this paperwork notarized and ready for tomorrow. Hopefully this evening will result in some serious knitting time!

Posted in: Adoption, Uncategorized \ Tagged:

New knitting project

\ 2 Comments

When we discovered that Cin-Ru’s favorite color is blue, I decided to knit her a hat! We sent her a letter last week, in which I told her that I had started a hat and asked if she would prefer I mail it for her birthday or bring it with me when we meet in Taiwan. I promised that I would show her the hat progress on the next Skype call (this Sunday afternoon!) so I have to knit fast and furious to make sure the hat actually looks like it will be a hat!

This is the lovely yarn I found.

And here is the very beginnings of her hat.

The ribbing is done for the brim and I am over half done with the first of four repeats. I don’t aim to finish the hat before Sunday, but I would like to be at least half done. I have a lot of work to do!

Posted in: Adoption, Uncategorized \ Tagged: ,

Quick note

\ 1 Comment

I know that I am totally neglecting my blog these days. I do hope to get back to regular posting, as 1) there are things to share and 2) I miss writing. But I am here! Nothing exciting going on, just the day to day waiting that is so typical of the adoption process. I want to post soon about new meals we’ve been trying, knitting projects I’ve been working on, things I’ve been learning lately… I will plan to post more regularly starting Monday. I’m looking forward to it!

Posted in: Uncategorized